Deworming of dogs

What kinds of worms occur in dogs?

The following types of worms are common in dogs:

Among nematodes:

• Ripworm (Toxocara canis)
• Whipworm (Trichuris vulpis)
• Hookworm (Ancylostoma caninum)

Among tapeworms:

• Cucumber seed worm (Dipylidium caninum)
• Echinococcus, Taenia species

How and when should dogs be dewormed?

Worms can cause serious, even fatal, disease especially in young dogs under one year of age.

Puppies can become infected with roundworm larvae in the mother’s body already in the womb, and at the age of 3 weeks they can excrete sexually mature worms in their intestines. It is important to prevent the worms from maturing, i.e. mass ovulation.

We can achieve this by deworming the puppies regularly several times every two weeks from the age of 2 weeks.

Regular worming is also necessary for later dogs, it is sufficient to deworm puppies and adult dogs every 3 months. For deworming, it is advisable to use combined preparations containing several active ingredients, which are effective against most types of worms.

Are dog worms dangerous for humans?

The answer is: unfortunately yes, but the good news is that human diseases are very rare.

The basic hygiene rules must be followed and our pets must be regularly dewormed, so most human diseases can be avoided.

Children with an underdeveloped immune system, as well as people who are taking steroids or undergoing chemotherapy are at increased risk of infection by worms.

Important to know: Worms spread by animals and dangerous to humans never, ever appear in human feces!

The larvae of animal worms can migrate in the human body, in various organs (liver, lungs, fundus of the eyes), but they do not become adult worms in the human intestinal tract.

Worms appearing in the feces mainly occur in children of preschool and elementary school age and are caused by humans’ own species of worms, animals should not be blamed for this!

This is not a tragedy either, fortunately, effective preparations are available for the medical treatment of both animal and human helminths.

In recent years, due to climate change, new worm species have appeared in the Carpathian Basin.

Primarily diseases caused by the causative agents of skinworms (Dirofilaria repens) and heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) are significant, we encounter them more and more often.

Both species of worms enter the body of dogs through mosquito bites.

You can read more about the topic here:

⇒ Heartworm

Fortunately, we have effective preparations that can be used to prevent these diseases.

Worried if your dog has worms? Find us with confidence!